As the whole world gears up to celebrate Valentine ‘s Day, Sudanese people face the oh-so-troubling task of upsetting the Muslim clerics of Sudan. Sudan Ulema Authority has issued a statement encouraging Sudanese folks to boycott this evil tradition of celebrating love, because it’s a Christian tradition, and we all know how horrendous it is to imitate those poopy infidels.

Sheikh Hassan Hamid, in a statement released to Reuters news agency, said: “Valentine’s Day comes from Western countries. I call on Muslims not to imitate Christians.” Members of the Ulema Authority encouraged young couples to save money for ‘better uses’ such as saving up for a wedding.

Yeah, because that overpriced wedding with a multitude of un-Islamic cultural traditions is more Sharia-adherent than an exchange of flowers and chocolate. Right.

Ostentatious behavior tends to run in the Sudanese DNA, especially Sudanese expats. In Dubai however, this behavior is amplified, as it seems that the easy luxurious lifestyle is endemic among both locals and foreign residents. Many of Dubai’s expats are in fact living beyond their means, or just on the edge, with a falsified sense of eternal stability and economic security. Well, that bubble has definitely popped. For many Dubai residents, news of daily cancellations of around 1,500 work visas is terrifying. So much so that The New York Times reported that over 3,000 cars have been abandoned at the airport by fleeing foreigners who fear imprisonment due to unpaid debts.

I wonder if high profile Sudanese Dubai residents like Al-Bashir’s brother are in financial trouble. Or if Awad Al-Jaz, the minister of finance and economy is keeping up with his mortgage payments for the thirty luxury Palm Islands apartments he recently purchased?

My Sudanese readers in Dubai, what’s going on in your neck of the woods? Are those one-way tickets back to Khartoum sold out yet?

So it has been a while since I have written anything on here, and I’ve been particularly…sucky, for lack of a better word, about replying to comments/e-mails/facebook messages. For that I truly apologize. I must say however, I have been humbled, and somewhat surprised to see that my blog stats have not taken a significant hit! My readership has been steady at approximately 900 visitors per day, which is a slight decrease from the 1000+ readers I had when I used to post regularly.*

For those of you who care about where I have disappeared, well I’ve spent two weeks in London as I’ve mentioned before, but I also did a mini world tour and visited Qatar and Sudan. To be honest with you, I had the time of my life. Go ahead, be jealous. No really, please take a moment to envy me. Thanks.

Now that I’m back to the United States of Amreeka, I will probably resume regular blogging. But, and this is a big but, I have come to discover that my globetrotting was less of a hindrance to my blogging than the fact that my laptop stopped working shortly before I left to London. I don’t know if this is just a problem unique to me or other bloggers have suffered from such a limiting misfortune, but I can only blog from my laptop. I literally feel paralyzed when I try to type on other computers. I am writing this from a desktop computer at work and I feel that my fingers are resisting transferring my thoughts. Oh well. If I was in Sudan, I would be using my fingers for more important matters, like dipping them into a bowl of Kisra oo Waika.

Okay I have to go pretend to be a productive employee now. I should be purchasing a laptop sometime this week, so let’s plan on all meeting here early next week for new posts, annnnd I have pictures from Sudan as well!

I am finally and thankfully done with a brutal week dubbed finals week by people who knew that this is indeed “The Final Week” in many people’s lives. Even though I am sleep deprived and slightly starting to resemble the elephant man, I have survived.

In a week, I will be in London for a two week course with the University. I am beyond ecstatic about that since I have not been to London since 1998. I am a tad bit sad though that I will spend New Years–which happens to be my favorite time of year– all alone. Well not all alone, I will be with a group of people from the college of business, but their idea of fun is to drink themselves into oblivion, which is definitely not how I like to spend my time.

Anyhoo, there is a lot I am planning to do and see in London, but I would still like to hear your recommendations! So for those of you familiar with the city, let me know all about your favorite hotspots.

Lately, I have been forced to tune out the world’s news and current affairs because I am inundated by my own matters that I must tend to. There is only one week left till finals start, and all my projects/presentations are due this week. Being the notorious procrastinator that I am, I always wait till the 11th hour to do anything—this blog post was supposed to be written days ago. I have also been extremely busy with my part-time job and two major end-of-semester events for some of the student organizations I am a member of.

Now that you are up to speed with what’s been preoccupying me, I would like to apologize for the half-assed posts on this blog as of late, but I do have good news and bad news. The good news is: you should expect many more of these half-assed posts until I am finished with finals. That was also the bad news. While I use my intellect for last minute cramming and sucking up to professors, I think you should take time to appreciate your mind while laughing at intellectually inferior people on facebook who engage in meaningful conversations such as this one, and thank God that you are not a nincompoop—no really, that’s a word!

I have many plans for this blog; the best is yet to come. So fear not blog readers, this well has not dried up yet. This blogging well is Zamzam-esque. Speaking of Zamzam, Eid Mubarak to all!

Who am I?

I am a Sudanese optimist and a marketing professional with a passion for philanthropy. Yes, you guessed correctly, I love paradoxes. This blog is a literary melting pot of all the diverse ideas that I can cognitively recall and write down-- I promise I will not be biased against any of those ideas, even when they sound like Sarah Palin's verbal diarrhea, circa 2008 elections. In this blog, no topic is off limits.It must be noted that I fancy sarcasm, irony, and controversy. Buckle down and enjoy the ride to controversy town!